[treasure : Gift] first catch !

Trees of a lush forest swayed as the wind swiftly moved between every branch, leaves rattling as a few fluttered down onto the ground below it. Instead, it landed on the head of a child, being cradled in the arms of her caregiver, her mother in her eyes. The child’s mother noticed the leaf on her daughter's head, chuckling underneath the skull she wore before she reached a claw to grab it.

“It seems the wind is strong enough for leaves to fall, rare for there to be wind in the evening..” She spoke, putting the leaf in tinier paws as her daughter held it above her head, “So windy that this leaf chose me !” she exclaimed with a grin, earning a giggle from her mother.

“Well.. let's see if dinner will choose us for tonight !” Mari said, nuzzling her daughter with her skull mask as Lillith nuzzled her back - Mari swore her heart grew just a bit more for this little girl. She continued to walk alongside a flowing river, following the direction of the flow in hopes of finding a lake or even a waterfall to help wash off any dirt and grime the mother - daughter duo had caught on, specifically Lillith; that pale child always getting herself lost and running back with quite the mess.

Soon enough, the sound of rushing water made itself present. It slowly grew more in sound as the rumble of crashing water fell onto both of their ears, the pair slowly but surely making their way to the sound only to find a wide opening before them. It was indeed a waterfall ! The teal, almost clear, water flowed into the opening that made the river as water from a cliff above fell down to the pool below.

“There’s fishies !” Lillith said, pointing at the clear water with her little claw as fish swam about under the surface. ‘Dinner’ Mari thought.

Mari placed Lillith down as she approached the pool, kneeling down before she dipped a claw in the water. The water was cold but fresh to take a dip in ! The Symp stood back up as she looked over to her daughter, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as Lillith was nowhere to be found. She frantically looked around for her only to hear something by her hooves. Looking down, found a pale figure next to her leg, kneeled and playing with the water as she giggled to herself. Mari let out a loud sigh of relief as she too kneeled down next to her little ghost, examining her as she noticed more sticks and leaves stuck in her hair.

~

The skies were of a light purple, an orange hue painted the horizon as the sun was due to be put to rest soon, the two moons slowly fading into the soon to be nightsky. A fire cracked and burned in the middle of an embrace of rocks as Mari brushed Lillith’s hair with her talons, humming a sweet little tune, Lillith humming along with.

It wasn’t until a low grumble was heard that the humming stopped, specifically from Lillith as she turned to look at Mari with her dark eyes. “I think I’m hungry, Mama” She told her, Mari gave her a soft smile before she stood up, “Let’s go hunting then !” She smiled. Walking over to the pool as she dipped herself in, turning around and holding out her arms for Lillith. The girl stood at the shore before leaping straight into Mari’s embrace, the two giggling.

After playing around in the water for just a bit, Mari dove under the surface, Lillith following suit, as the both of them searched for fish to eat for dinner. The water was clear though the night was nigh upon them as it was too dim to even see anything but brightly colored fish.

It wasn’t until Mari spotted a bright pink and green fish that she immediately swam to, reaching out her talons to grab it before it could even swim away. She clutched the Sleepy Catfish in between her claws as she swam back to the surface, making her way back to shore as she looked around. Lillith isn’t seen yet again, looking in the water she found her little ghost swimming around, as if looking for something, maybe a chest since most find chests whilst looking for other things.

But she couldn’t be more wrong as her daughter broke the surface with a huge gasp, calling out for her “Mama, Mama ! I got something !!!” She exclaimed, swimming as best as she could before rushing to shore. “What is it, what is it ?” Mari asked, going over to the fire and placing down the catfish on a log. She got her answer immediately as Lillith pulled her arm from her back as she proudly showed that she finally had caught a fish, her first ever successful forage !

Mari’s eyes glimmered as she rushed over to her daughter, picking her up and twirling her around over such a big achievement. The girl giggled as she nuzzled her mama, Mari nuzzling her back as the fish hopelessly flopped in between them.